Officer Down: The Slave of Duty
by LacytheRomanWerewolf
Summary: A wake, a funeral, one seriously pissed ex-sister-in-law and some major decisions. Life just can't be easy for the Hotchners, can it? HP


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Lacy here kids. Sorry for taking so long. I was honestly putting it off as long as possible. Things get...complicated from here. Remember, at the end of 100, I warned that Jessica would be back and causing problems. Those are going to start at the wake. I know, wonderful timing on her part. This will probably cause tears and I'm sorry for that. Baby Brother Hotchner will be there as well as Emily's father. Have...nope.

Disclaimer: I own Mattie.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily slid Mattie's little black shoes onto her feet and sighed. Her daughter shouldn't have a funeral outfit and yet here she was, in a black dress with a white collar and black shoes, getting ready to go to the funeral of a woman she'd never get to know.

"Your life is so complicated," Emily said softly to Mattie. "and it's just started."

"Emmy,"

Emily turned around and found Jack behind her, dressed in a little black suit, making him look even more like Aaron.

"Hey Buddy," Emily said with a smile.

Jack bit his lip. "Daddy's sad."

Emily let her eyes shut for a second. "Can you stay with Mattie while I check on him?"

Jack nodded and moved into the room while Emily walked out, running her hand over Jack's head as she did. Emily found Aaron in their room, staring at the floor from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Aaron," she said softly as she knelt next to him.

Aaron sighed. "It's not right, Em."

Emily rubbed his thigh. "I know, honey. But we can't change it. All we can do is move forward, for Jack and Mattie. That's what Haley would want."

Aaron gave a ghost of a smile. "You really got to know her well, didn't you?"

Emily smiled as well. "Yeah, I did. Well enough to know she wouldn't want you feeling guilty."

"I can't help it, Emily." Aaron said. "If I had just-"

"No," Emily said firmly. "No 'if's. Haley and I are similar in we know it's not your fault. Just like I don't blame you for what Mattie and I went through, I know Haley doesn't blame you for what happened to her and Jack."

Aaron picked up Emily's hand from his thigh and squeezed it. "You're too good for me."

Emily shook her head with a smile. "No I'm not." she stood up. "Ready?"

Aaron stood also, with a sigh. "As I'll ever be." he looked around. "Where are the kids?"

Emily jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "In Mattie's room. Jack came to get me cause you were sad."

Aaron let out a small laugh. "He is way too smart."

Emily kissed Aaron. "Can't imagine where he gets that from." she pulled him towards the door. "Come on."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily could feel eyes burning a hole into the side of her head as she stood just behind Aaron while he gave his eulogy but refused to meet Jessica's glare. Thankfully the team, Sean and her father had closed in around her, Mattie and Jack because Emily had a feeling if Jessica had a clean shot at Jack, she would grab the little boy. But he was safe, tucked against her side, playing with Mattie's foot while he sniffed and listened to his father talk about when he'd met Haley.

Emily heard Aaron's voice catch and moved forward with the kids, so he knew they were there for him. As she hoped, he reached down and put a hand out for Jack, who clung to it with his free hand. Together, the four stood strong as Aaron finished.

As everyone placed their roses on Haley's casket, Aaron picked Jack up and wrapped an arm around Emily, resting his head against hers. Once everyone had filtered away, the four stepped up to the casket. Emily went first, placing her rose and Mattie's down the casket.

"Wave to Aunt Haley, Mattie." Emily said softly.

The little girl flapped a hand at the casket while her head rested on Emily's shoulder. Emily patted Haley's casket as a tear slid down her face and stepped back to let Aaron and Jack have their moment.

"Blow Mommy a kiss." Emily heard Aaron say to Jack.

Emily smiled as Jack blew Haley a kiss before Aaron stepped back to her side and the four headed for their car.

"Emmy," Jack said.

Emily looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Can I carry Mattie to the car?" Jack asked.

Emily looked at Aaron, who nodded a bit, then back at Jack. "Sure."

Aaron put Jack down and Emily carefully handed Mattie to her brother. Jack didn't move until he had a good grip on his sister then started for the car, talking as he walked.

"I know it's not the best time," Emily said to Aaron. "but if there was ever a picture moment."

Aaron nodded. "I agree." he sighed. "I don't know if I'm coming back to work, Em."

Emily squeezed Aaron's arm as she looped hers around it. "You do what you feel is best. The team and I will back you."

Aaron moved his arm and wrapped it around Emily's shoulders. "You sure?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah and if someone has a problem, Dave and I can kick their asses into submission."

Aaron let out a laugh. "I'm not bailing either of you out of jail."

Emily smirked. "Who says we'll get caught?"

Aaron shook his head and kissed Emily. "You're crazy."

"Yeah, but it's part of why you love me." Emily said. She nodded to the car. "Come on, it looks like Mattie's getting too heavy for Jack."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"Do you see what you caused?"

Emily looked up from giving Mattie her bottle to see Jessica standing in front of her, looking very pissed.

"This is not the time or the place, Jessica." Emily said calmly. She could see Sean and Morgan stepped forward out of the corner of her eye.

"It's your fault we're here." Jessica said. "You and Aaron."

Emily stood up as Sean stopped next to her. "Take Mattie, Sean." she met his eyes, clearly saying not to let Aaron see any of this.

Sean nodded, reading the non-verbal message and took Mattie. Emily waited until they were a bit away before facing Jessica again.

"The only person to blame for this is George Foyet." Emily said. "And he is gone. Aaron made sure of that."

"You two don't deserve Jack." Jessica spat. "Not after killing his mother."

Emily felt her temper flare. "If you even try to take that little boy, I swear Jessica, you will have one hell of a fight on your hands. Aaron is his father. No amount of bitter bitching from you is going to change that." she exhaled and collected herself. "I understand you're upset but getting mad at the wrong people won't help."

"Emily,"

Emily let out a sigh of relief as her father stopped at her side.

"Hey Dad," she said.

"Everything okay?" Richard asked, noticing the tension between his daughter and the blonde.

Emily nodded. "Fine. This is Jessica Brooks, Haley's sister."

Richard nodded. "Richard Prentiss. I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Did you even know my sister?" Jessica asked.

Richard cocked a brow at the venom in her tone. "No but I do know how much she meant to Emily and Aaron."

Jessica turned away. "I seriously doubt she meant anything to either of them."

Richard went to speak but the hand Emily put on his arm clearly said to let it go. Taking a deep breath, Richard looked at his daughter.

"Jack's with the team and asking for you." he said.

Emily smiled at the mention of Jack. "I'll head right over." She looked at Jessica again before shaking her head and walking away.

Richard also looked at Jessica but decided to walk away also. He could see Sean was having a bit of trouble feeding Mattie. He shook his head with a smile.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily saw Jack sitting on JJ's lap but once he caught sight of Emily, he jumped down and ran over to her. Emily knelt down and caught Jack in her arms. She could feel the little boy shaking.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Emily asked softly as she kissed his head.

"Aunt Jessie said it was Daddy's fault Mommy's gone." Jack cried. "Is that true, Emmy?"

Emily held Jack tightly as she cursed Jessica in her head. "I promise you Jack, none of what Jessica said is true. Daddy did everything he could to bring Mommy home with you but a bad man took her away before he could."

"George." Jack mumbled into Emily's neck.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, George."

"Why did Aunt Jessie say it was Daddy?" Jack asked.

Emily rubbed Jack's back. "I really don't know, Jack. I really don't."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily stayed sitting with her father and Sean while the team hugged Jack goodbye before leaving for their case.

"Agent Prentiss,"

Oh, that was the last voice Emily wanted to hear.

"Ma'am," Emily greeted Strauss.

"Why aren't you leaving with your team?" Strauss asked.

Emily let out a disbelieving laugh. "Are you serious? I am not leaving Aaron to try and take care of his son and our five month old daughter after just burying his ex-wife."

Strauss held her ground. "You don't have a choice, agent."

Emily handed Mattie to Richard and stood. "No ma'am, it's you who doesn't have a choice. My family comes first. Aaron is going to need me and if you or the Bureau has a problem with that, you can take it up with me when I return to work."

Strauss went to speak but Richard beat her to it.

"Leave Erin," he said. "she's not going anywhere."

Strauss narrowed a look on Emily. "We will talk about this later."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily taped up the last box of Jack's things and smiled as she heard the little boy giggling with his sister just downstairs. She turned her head to where she knew Aaron was packing up the bedroom and decided to go help. She walked into the room and found him folding up Haley's clothes.

"I figured Jess could have them." Aaron said, sensing Emily behind him.

Emily nodded. "Sounds like a good idea." she cleared her throat. She hadn't planned on telling Aaron about what Jessica said to Jack but she felt he needed to know. "You might want to be careful with Jessica."

Aaron frowned. "Why?"

Emily sighed. "At the wake, Jack came to me crying, saying Jess told him it was your fault that Haley was gone."

Aaron shut his eyes. "Damnit, I knew she was going to be angry but I never imagined she'd do something like that."

Emily moved to Aaron's side and rubbed his back. "I told him it wasn't your fault and he understands that. He's just confused about why Jessica blamed you."

Aaron cupped the side of Emily's neck and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "Thank you for telling me. Did she say anything else?"

Emily bit her lip. "Not to Jack."

"What did she say to you?" Aaron said, easily connecting to dots.

Emily stared at the ground and crossed her arms. "She blames us and said we didn't deserve Jack. Not after killing his mother."

Aaron felt his anger surge to the surface. "She won't take my son."

Emily uncrossed her arms and rubbed her hands up and down Aaron's arms. "I know that, Aaron. There is not a chance in hell anyone would let her take him. Just know she's probably going to cause a few problems."

Aaron shook his head. "No, I warned her when she first started causing problems that if she continued, she'd have no part in Jack's life. What she did at the wake solidifies that."

Emily nodded. "If that's what you want to do, I support you."

Aaron met Emily's eyes. "You think I'm doing the wrong thing?"

Emily shook her head. "No, I think you're doing what's best for Jack. I just think Jessica is upset and maybe, later down the road, she'll regret what she's done."

Aaron shook his head. "I very much doubt it. Jessica never liked me. Always supported Haley leaving me. Hell, she even tried to get Haley to take away my time with Jack." he sighed. "No, it's best now if we cut her out altogether. Before she does any lasting damage."

Emily hugged Aaron, her head tucking under his chin. "Alright, then that's what we'll do."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily stood in disbelief as Aaron let Strauss out of the house.

"Retirement?" she asked. "Aaron-"

"Stop Emily," Aaron said quickly. "I never even thought of retirement until Strauss brought it up just now. I was thinking maybe a desk job or teaching but not retiring."

Emily exhaled slowly. "Okay, I can deal with that." she quickly glared at the door. "Can I kill her?"

Aaron smothered a smile. "I believe we've had that conversation before. And the answer is still the same."

Emily huffed. "Damnit."

Aaron chuckled. "That's mature."

Emily smirked. "Always." she sobered. "So, what are you going to do?"

Aaron sighed. "I don't know. I want to be there for Jack and Mattie but at the same time, I feel like I'm abandoning the team."

Emily cupped Aaron's face in her hands. "Believe me, you could never abandon us. You know as well as I do, no matter where we're working, if we got stuck, Dave or Morgan would have you on the phone before anyone could blink."

Aaron smiled a bit. "Yeah, that's true." he rested his forehead against Emily's. "You'll support whatever I do?"

Emily nodded. "Without a second thought."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Jessica opened her front door and once again found herself staring at her ex-brother-in-law. While he'd been pissed the first time, that was nowhere near what he was now.

"You are never to come near Jack again." Aaron said, his voice cold and dead serious. "If I have to have it written up legally, I will but unless you have mine or Emily's permission, you do not see, speak to or go anywhere near Jack. Do you understand me?"

"You can't cut me off from my nephew." Jessica sputtered.

"I think you'll find that I can." Aaron said. "I am his father. I decide what's best for him and who gets to be in his life. You tried to make him believe I'm the reason his mother is gone. You continue to put the blame on the wrong people. You are no longer what's best for him and because of that, you are no longer allowed in his life."

Before Jessica could respond, Aaron turned and walked away.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Aaron held Emily close in bed, his decision firm in his mind.

"I'm coming back." Aaron said softly against Emily's shoulder.

Emily ran her fingers over the arm Aaron had around her waist. "Okay, we'll make it work." she turned her head and kissed Aaron's temple. "It'll all work out."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

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So, um, that was, um, actually exactly how I planned. Weird. We may see Jessica again, I'm not really sure. But for now, there it is. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.

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